KEIR Starmer has said he was “probably the last” person to realise Chancellor Rachel Reeves was crying during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Responding to media questions at the launch of the UK Government’s 10-year health plan, Starmer said he had not “appreciated” that his Chancellor was upset due to the fast-paced nature of PMQs.
Sky News’s Beth Rigby said that “on a human level, people were shocked and baffled that in the Commons yesterday you did not offer your Chancellor your support”.
She asked: “Was it because you didn’t see what was happening, or did you not know what to do?”
Responding, Starmer said: “Let me just clear that up straight away. I didn't appreciate what was happening because, as you'll probably appreciate, PMQs is pretty wired. It goes from question to question, and I'm literally up and down, question, looking at who's asking me a question, thinking about my response, and getting up and answering it.
“So, it wasn't just yesterday, no Prime Minister ever has had side conversations during PMQs. It does happen in debates when there's a bit more time, but in PMQs, it is bang bang bang.
“That's what it was yesterday, and therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber. That's just a straightforward human explanation, common-sense explanation, if you like.”
Reeves also appeared at the health plan launch on Thursday morning and gave a short speech in a bid to calm rumours that her distressed demeanour during PMQs was because her job was on the line.
She declined to give the reason behind her tears, telling broadcasters: “Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that. It was a personal issue and I’m not going to go into the details of that.
“My job as Chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the Prime Minister, supporting the Government and that’s what I tried to do.
“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”
Reeves further rejected reports that she was upset due to a heated conversation with Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle or another member of Government.
The sight of her in tears on Wednesday, and the £5 billion black hole in her public spending plans as a result of Labour’s last-minute U-turn on disability welfare cuts, had spooked the markets, triggering a sharp sell-off of bonds. Gilt yields saw the sharpest increase since US president Donald Trump’s tariff plans shook up financial markets in April.
Chris Iggo, the chief investment officer for core investments at AXA Investment Managers, said: “The UK Government bond (gilt) market sold off aggressively on July 2 on the back of traders’ and investors’ concerns over the potential for further fiscal deterioration.
“There was speculation that the UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was to be replaced – chiefly driven by her distressed appearance in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions.
“The market narrative was that any replacement might not be as committed to the government’s fiscal framework, meaning the potential for even higher borrowing and more gilt issuance to come.”
Starmer later gave his full backing to Reeves remaining as Chancellor.
“She is an excellent Chancellor, she will be Chancellor for a very long time to come, into the next election and beyond it,” he said on Thursday.
“She and I are absolutely committed to our fiscal rules and the economic stability that is so important to this country, and that is the rock on which we build everything else.
“On that issue, Rachel and I are in lockstep, and have been for years.”
